Year: 2014

Letter Re: Rope Making

Hugh, The recent article on making rope by using plastic bags falls into the whole rope making category. A while back, when I still had animals, I made rope every day, a foot or two at a time, while feeding them their grain. I used the twine from the hay bales and made 8 or 10 strand flat braids. I regularly made 50 and 100 foot long ropes that I still use. They are as strong as a similar manila rope; I have pulled a car on the road with one. Learning how to braid flat braids is a skill …


Economics and Investing:

The Three “Death Trends” o o o Central Planners Are In A State of Panic o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: U.S. Loan Applications to Buy Homes Lowest Since February: MBA The Economy Of The Largest Superpower On The Planet Is Collapsing Right Now Bill Gross Should Stick To Shuffleboard – His Case For Bigger Deficits Is Ludicrous SILVER SHORTAGE? What Does It Mean? Mike Maloney


Odds ‘n Sods:

Tolerance: The Myth – Avalance Lily o o o Political Catch-Phrase – Avalance Lily o o o Facebook sees 24% uptick in government requests for user data – J.C. o o o Check out my thoughts on the threat risks of a resurgent Russia, an Ebola pandemic, and a U.S. power grid vulnerable to attack. On the latest segment of my interview with DRescapes.com, the expatriate blog – JWR o o o Video: Common Core Creator explains WHY he wrote it.



Notes for Thursday – November 06, 2014

November 6, 2014 is the 70th anniversary of the day that B-24 Liberator co-pilot Al Millspaugh was shot down over Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in 1944. James Wesley, Rawles got to know Al at some John Birch Society chapter meetings back in the late 1970s. Hearing his stories was fascinating. JWR’s latest novel, Liberators, is in part dedicated to Al Millspaugh. He is still alive and kicking and is quite a guy. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 55 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite …


Not Ready Yet!, by Sara

I started prepping back in 2008, when the financial crash hit our family hard. We were going about our business, both my husband and I working ourselves to death enjoying the “American dream”– a mortgage, a couple of car payments, kids in college, and a disposable income that was quickly gobbled up each month by luxuries that included the latest iPhone, every child having his or her own computer, rib eye steaks for dinner, rounds of golf, and things like this. When the financial free fall started, we were not prepared. We lost everything! On top of that, my husband …


Letter: Manning an LP/OP with Hearing Acuity

HJL, I made an interesting discovery. While I have good night vision for use in my LPOP, when I did a test run this weekend, I took my Howard Leight headphones with me to see how much “Audio Augmentation” would help in my ability to “hear before I see”. I was stunned! With the volume turned up, I am getting an easy 10 Db gain in audio sensitivity and this is as if someone turned on an audio floodlight. I could detect soft conversations 500′ away that were not detectable without the headphone. I heard many small animals that were …


Economics and Investing:

Congress Reaches Debt-To-Tax Ratio Unseen Since WWII. – G.G. o o o Unprecedented Money Printing Injected into Economy-Fabian Calvo. – J.W. o o o Americans Tighten Their Belts, While Their Government Races Toward Disaster o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Oil Hits Four-Year Low after Saudi Arabia Cuts U.S. Prices It’s Currency War! – And Japan Has Fired The First Shot


Odds ‘n Sods:

Second Amendment Crushes Gun Control Candidates in Midterm Elections – JBG o o o While most races involving the 2nd Amendment went the way they should have, SurvivalBlog reader D.S. informs us that some went further afield: Billionaire gun grabbers get their way. It may be time for that split in some states. JWR’s Comment: I have no doubt that this referendum banning private party sales of guns did not get a majority of votes in lightly-populated eastern Washington. This is just one more reason for Washington to be partititioned at the summit of the Cascades. The western and eastern …



Notes for Wednesday – November 05, 2014

Today, we present another entry for Round 55 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hardcase to go with your …


Your Friends, by D.D.

Most people don’t see the need to prepare. To them, these funny stories about the end of the world (in one form or another) are nothing but a passing amusement, at best, or the ravings of paranoid doomsayers, at worst. Still, though, they have a backup, fool-proof plan, just in case they are wrong. This plan, of course, is to come to your house. As soon as they hear of any of your preparations, they casually invite themselves over: “If anything does happen, I know where I’m going…” They speak as if you’re preparing to carry their burden, too, and …


Letter: Coinstar

HJL, I had a bunch of change in the console of my car, a lot actually. I was thinking about using Coinstar to count it and give me cash, but I didn’t want to pay the fee. So, I went to their website. The option to get cash back is still there (they take 10.9%), but now they also offer an electronic-gift certificate from various vendors with no fee to such places as Amazon.com, Lowes, iTunes, and more. So at lunch I put all the change into a small box, found a Coinstar machine at a QFC, carefully went through …


Economics and Investing:

The government is already in a soft default and is addicted to low interest rates: Government expenses at $3.87 trillion while receipts enter at $3.29 trillion. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Charting Banzainomics: What The BOJ’s Shocking Announcement Really Means GOP Senate Takeover Would Put Fed Under Microscope U.S. Trade Deficit Widens in September; Exports At Five-Month Low Petrodollars Leave World Markets for First Time in 18 Years


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Books Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation Small-Scale Pig Raising by Dirk van Loon Fiction The Rackham Files by Dean Ing (includes the text of “Pulling Through” a modern nuke scenario + a mini nuke survival manual) Movies Lawrence of Arabia Saving Private Ryan